Now or Never
by FuTuRe-AniMaToR
Summary: Maybeck has it bad for a girl...but theres some confusion between the Keepers about who it is. He recruits Charlene to help him...but is it help that he really wants?   New story i just came up with! Will be 4-5ish chapters hopefully
1. Chapter 1

"Hey girl" Maybeck said as he slowly approached Charlene, who seemed to be busy working on homework. Maybeck had been unsure about coming to her while she was in the library, but he realized she couldn't get mad at him here. Sometimes he loved the code of silence, especially when it came to Charlene's temper with him.

She glanced up and gave him a look "What can I do for you dork?"

"What's with the dork talk?" he threw his hands up in defense. He decided to surrender and explain why he was looking for her. He sat down across from her and said, "I need your help with something" in all seriousness.

"And how can I help you on this fine day?" she said, looking up from her work.

"What'd I do?" Maybeck asked desperately trying to figure Charlene out and her sarcastic comments.

"Sorry, I'll be good. Now, what can I do for you?" Charlene said.

"It's with this girl" Maybeck blushed.

This intrigued Charlene greatly. "Wow, Donnie. I've never seen you like this" she laughed, "this must be some girl."

"She is" Maybeck blushed even more, "I've know her for a few years now and I think we're ready for the next step in our friendship, and I'm hoping relationship."

Charlene's stomach did flip-flops. She had originally thought he'd been talking about her. They'd become close friends, along with the rest of the Keepers. 'Wait a second…THAT'S IT!' Charlene thought. 'It's Jess!'

"Charlie?" Maybeck said as he waved his hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" Charlene snapped out of her daze, "Sorry. So who is this girl?" Maybeck didn't answer, but took notice that her hand was shaking.

He grasped it gently and held it between his hands. "You ok?" he asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah" she took her hand away, "I'm fine."

"Ok, well, can you help me?" he asked, still unsure about Charlene's current behavior.

"If I can," she said.

"Great. So my big problem is, I don't know how to take the first step in asking her out or something" Maybeck paused, "I don't even know how to ask you for help."

Charlene smirked. "Well for starters, you might try finding out if she likes you, although I'm sure you'd be able to tell" she said with Jess in mind. Charlene started going through their Keeper adventures when Jess and Maybeck were together and wondered if she'd missed something between the two of them.

"That's awesome" Maybeck said as sarcastically as he could.

"Why?" Charlene half aware of her surroundings asked.

"I don't know if she likes me or not" Maybeck sighed.

Charlene had finished going through the memories she'd had of their groups of friends and couldn't recall any with Maybeck and Jess. This confused her greatly but she decided she must've missed something.

"You can't be sure unless you ask" Charlene smiled sweetly as she packed her stuff and got up to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?" Maybeck asked frantically.

"Home" she replied, "so should you."

"But what should I do?"

"Go home and think about it. Than call her up and make plans and have a long, honest talk with her. Let me know how it goes."

And just like that, she was gone. Maybeck decided to take her advice for a spin.

Meanwhile, outside in the parking lot, sat a blonde girl, showering her face with tears. Charlene couldn't explain what had suddenly come over her for she'd never felt like this. She just knew that whatever the reason, it was going to be hard to face Maybeck next time.

**This isn't going to be a long story…I don't believe it is anyway. I'm thinking 4-5 chapters so yea…let me know what you think? Just came up with this last night. :) -Amanda**


	2. Chapter 2

**A few days later**

"Just call her man" Philby said.

Maybeck didn't stirs from his position on hi bed, "It's so easy to talk about it in person, but now…" he said.

"Oh come on, let's be honest, she's not the easiest person to spark up a conversation with" Finn stated as he rolled his eyes and shivered.

"What's with the shiver?" Philby asked.

"Just thinking. Our friendship seems strange now that I'm dating Amanda."

"It's not like that with Willa though is it?" Philby asked.

"No, but things are hopefully about to change, if you'd just call her" Finn said, staring Maybeck down.

"Fine" Maybeck grabbed his phone, pressed a button and held it up to his ear.

"Speed dial? Really?" Philby chuckled, "You've got it bad…"

"Shut up" Maybeck blushed.

"Hello?" a girls voice answered.

Finn could've sworn the voice sounded shocked at the randomness of the phone call.

"Hey, umm you wanna meet up with me at the Frozen Marble later?" Maybeck asked.

"Umm, sure I guess."

"Sweet, bye" and he hung up. "What?"

That particular 'What?' was in reference to the looks of shock on Philby and Finn's face. "Well, I guess I, uh…Finn?" Philby stuttered.

Finn looked as if he was trying to put two and two together with no success.

"Sup Whitman?" Maybeck asked.

"I thought, well we thought, I guess assumed this whole thing was about…you know." Finn sighed, knowing Maybeck wasn't catching on. He knew Philby shared the same thought as to whose voice they'd heard on the other end of that call.

"We didn't know you were going to call Charlie" Philby blurted out.

Maybeck chuckled, "Who else would I call?"

Finn and Philby exchanged confused glances. "Well…" Philby started but he didn't need to finish for Maybeck to finally understand.

"You thought I was talking about Jess?" Maybeck asked.

"Yes!" the guys answered together.

"No!" Maybeck exclaimed, "I like Charlene… a lot" he sighed.

"Wow, didn't see that coming" Finn said.

"Wait, if you guys thought I meant Jess…oh no" Maybeck slapped his head out of stupidity.

Philby groaned, "What'd you do now?"

"I gotta tell you guys something" Maybeck said as he told them about the library.

…

"Good going dork" Philby said after he'd finished his story.

"I know there's no way she likes me now."

"You never know…" Philby grinned.

"I guess you'll find out soon" Finn smirked.

"Did I miss something? You both are smiling like idiots" Maybeck said, more confused than ever.

"Nah, you better get ready" Philby said as he and Finn made their exit.

"Good luck, and don't worry, it'll work out" Finn said.

…

"He has no idea" Philby chuckled as they made their way down the street.

"I know. Tell me, how'd you find out?"

"Willa told me a few days ago about her talk with Charlene and how upset she was" Philby explained, "Information like this comes in handy when you're dating Charlie's best friend."

"Wow, this is going to be great" Finn grinned.

**How do you like this story so far? I'd love some input :) -Amanda**


	3. Chapter 3

**This is the last chapter of this short story!**

"That was…strange" Charlene said, looking at her phone.

"What was?" Willa asked.

"Maybeck just called and asked if I wanted to go to Frozen Marble later."

"I don't think that's strange," Willa quickly said than realized she probably shouldn't have.

"Why not?" Charlene asked, curious in Willa's quick response.

"Uh no reason. Why shouldn't he call you, you're friends right?" Willa responded hoping Charlene would drop it.

Charlene sighed, "Yeah, it would seem so."

Willa grinned to herself knowing how her best friend felt about Maybeck. She was finding it difficult to keep her mouth shut about what Maybeck was planning on telling her later that day. Willa noticed a change in Charlene's behavior and how it had turned somewhat depressing.

"What wrong?"

"I just wish, this is probably going to sound silly but, I wish Maybeck liked me like he does Jess" Charlene answered almost sending Willa into a fit of giggles.

'She has no idea' Willa thought. "Oh, I understand. You never know…"

"Willa, he wanted my help with a girl. Does he have any idea how that must make me feel?" Charlene's voice cracked.

Willa put her arm around Charlene trying to comfort her. "It'll be ok. Maybeck wouldn't purposely hurt you."

"He's so clueless!" Willa knew Charlene wasn't listening to her at all and gave up trying. "Do you think I'd be a fool if I told him how I feel?"

Willa's insides leaped for joy but contained her excitement with great difficulty, "Nope. I support that idea 100%."

"Thanks" Charlene smiled, "You're a great friend."

….

Maybeck approached the ice cream parlor sooner than he wanted too. Not to say he wasn't looking forward to having this talk with Charlene, but he was nervous to the point he couldn't form coherent thoughts. He glanced in the window to see if Charlene had arrived yet. She had indeed for her beauty was not something that went easily unnoticed. Not that this was a key factor in the reason he had developed feelings for her, but he still couldn't believe how she was still single. He knew what the guys at school said behind closed doors, especially when it came to their many vocal attempts at wooing Charlene.

At times such as these, Maybeck felt a certain emotion boil up inside of him that he discovered was jealousy mixed with anger. He hated the fact that he was surrounded by idiots most of the time when all they talked about was the hot cheerleader they so desperately wanted. Maybeck was determined to make it right with her, than he could protect her from them.

"Hey Charlie" Maybeck said as he slid in the booth beside her.

"Hey" Charlene said, trying to not blush at the fact that Maybeck actually took the vacant spot. She could already feel her confidence growing.

"So…" Maybeck could feel his hands starting to sweat as he tried his best to rid of it just in case he decided to hold hers.

"Are you ok?" Charlene asked, suddenly worried that her suspicions about his feelings for Jess were right. 'He seems nervous' she thought. Not that she was counting on it helping but she decided to put her hand on his.

Maybeck jumped at the sudden feel of her soft hand. He took note of how good it felt and prayed to God above that he would get to hold it for real and one day cherish this girl.

"Yeah, of course" he said, lying through his teeth. "No, no I'm not" he shook his head.

"What's wrong?" she asked, "You know you can tell me anything."

Maybeck looked her in the eyes and saw the sincerity that he'd always hoped for in a girl. He already knew he could trust her and tell her things he'd never even tell Finn or Philby. He knew this was right; the feeling she gave him inside assured him of everything he had doubted about telling her how he felt. He knew in this moment that she was the one for him.

"I know I can" he paused and looked at her hand still placed on his. "I had asked you a few days ago about helping me with a girl…"

"Yes you did" Charlene answered.

"Well, I still need help."

"I told you how to approach this topic. Have you talked to her yet?" she asked.

"That's what I'm trying to do" Maybeck said, looking up at her once again.

Charlene froze. Maybeck had never seen her so awestruck before. 'Was she really this surprised?' he thought. "Charlie?"

"What…I mean, how? What happened, huh?" Charlene tried to use her words but found this to be harder than attempting to tell Maybeck her feelings. She was in shock; she couldn't explain how she was feeling in that moment of Maybeck's confession.

Maybeck decided it was now or never; he had to go through with this, no turning back. "Charlie" he whispered as he turned his hand over and lacing his fingers through hers.

She looked down at her hand as if someone had just slapped her. It felt good to have Maybeck hold her hand, she couldn't deny it, not that she'd want too.

"Yes?" she shyly asked, not sure of anything at this point.

"I understand if you don't feel this way about me but you need to know, well I NEED you to know that I have strong feelings for you like I've never experienced before. I'll understand if you want to remain friends, I wont push you into anything, but you must know that I have fallen for you."

Maybeck thought Charlene looked a combination of happy and dumbfounded. "Donnie" Charlene whispered, "I…*sigh* I don't know how to say this."

Maybeck stomach dropped quicker than the tower of terror elevator. "Just say it," he said quietly, "I can handle it."

"I've fallen for you too," Charlene said as she placed her hand on his cheek so he could see that she fully meant those words.

As Maybeck's gut returned to it's rightful place, he realized where he was at this point and time. Charlene was close enough to his face that if he'd been one of those guys at school, he would've taken great advantage of this face. But he didn't. He was willing to take things slow with Charlene.

"Really?" he said, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"Yes. I have for awhile now," she said.

"That makes me feel better," Maybeck confessed as he chuckled.

Charlene joined him in a giggled and asked, "so what now?"

Maybeck grinned, "Well…" he stood up and pulled Charlene out of the booth and faced her.

"Donnie, what..?" Charlene said but was interrupted when Maybeck put his finger on her lips.

"Shh" he whispered as he got down on one knee and continued to hold Charlene's hand. "Charlene Turner, I promise to be faithful and true to you for as long as you'll have me. I truly hope our relationship will go the distance. I will never force you into anything you're not comfortable with and I will defend you and be there whenever you need me or just want some company. I will be the hug you wish for when you're having a bad day or simple want someone to hold you when all you feel like doing is crying. Charlie, will you be the other half I've been waiting for?"

Charlene had covered her mouth with her other hand during Maybeck's proposal. She started crying, but it was a good kind of cry. "Yes!" she exclaimed, "A million times yes!"

Maybeck smiled the biggest smile she'd ever seen appear on his face. He stood up and hugged her so she was off the ground. As they pulled back, it came to Maybeck's realization how close he was to Charlene's face again. Charlene's smile had disappeared as she exchanged it for a soft serious face that made Maybeck realize how much he wanted this. Charlene must've noticed this too as she leaned in and gently pressed her lips to Maybeck's.

Maybeck knew they would never forget this moment; the time when they not only shared their first kiss with each other, but their feelings and later, their hopes and dreams. He somehow knew in this same moment that he would love that girl in his arms for as long as he lived. Little did he know, that that same girl with her arms wrapped around his neck, was thinking the exact same thing.

**I'm in love with this story! PLEASE comment! :) -Amanda**


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